Average Jane: Average Jane Comes Back

Is there a prize for neglecting your blog for the longest amount of time while still considering it "active"? It's true that Typepad had a couple of lengthy service outages during that period, but I probably wasn't really going to write a post during one of them anyway.

Here are some of the things that have happened since I checked in last.

I attended Go Blog Social. It was strange to go to a blogging conference in my own town where I didn't know anyone. As you can see from the photo, this was a young and stylish crowd. Many of the bloggers had gotten their start in school, so I didn't have much in common with them. Still, it's always interesting to see where blogging is headed.

The following weekend I went on a trip to Hermann, Missouri with a big group of friends. We learned the maximum number of wineries a group of adults can visit in a day before needing a nap (answer: 3). It was lots of fun, though.

Because I'm such an early riser, I took advantage of the mini vacation and took morning walks each day. This is me heading back across the Missouri River toward Hermann.

When I got back in town, I started a new job. As you can see, they've been very nice from the start. I've now been there for about five weeks. I disposed of the welcome balloon when someone newer joined our department (and I no longer needed it to find my way back to my desk).

I finally got the opportunity to see my husband play with the band he joined a few months ago. They're called The Sexy Accident.

I spent an entire weekend cleaning my house. (Notice the smeary mirror. I have learned my lesson and since purchased the good kind of glass cleaner.) Uncompensated plug: I highly recommend Invisible Glass in the spray can. They sell it in the automotive department, but it's perfectly good for inside the house.

5K season began. This was actually my second organized race of the year; I did Earth Walk the weekend before. Neither was timed, but I did a pretty decent amount of running during Race 4 Domestic Violence Prevention, so it was probably my best pace of the year so far. I did another 5K walk/run with the dog after I got home that morning.

Speaking of the dog, Toby is as derpy as ever.

Last weekend I went to a drag show where they read through the entire script of Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. It was just as silly and fun as it sounds.

We celebrated Velvet's 7th Gotcha Day last week. I didn't post about it after her first illness, but Velvet relapsed and spent four days at the veterinary hospital in February. It turned out she had a severe liver infection and at first it seemed as though she wouldn't pull through. I visited her every day and she managed to rally after several days of fluids and antibiotics. Once she started eating again, they sent her home and she's been back to her old self.

So that's the Cliff's Notes version. I've been staying busy, but not too busy. I'm happy and reasonably productive. My exercise and diet are getting back on track after a rather poor start at the beginning of the year. My band lost its keyboard player but the rest of us are carrying on as a four-piece and we have a gig the Saturday after next.

Best of all, I have my plane tickets to BlogHer '14, so I'll be San Jose bound with Cagey this July and we'll be reliving our BlogHer '05 experience with an extra decade of experience to leaven things (not to mention several thousand extra attendees compared to the first conference).

So yes, I'm back. And I missed you!